Real estate definitions definition dictionary terms alphabet alphabetical B b

Real estate definitions Dictionary provided as a service by Sandra Conley, Broker of HB Land and Homes, Palmdale, California.
Home buyers and sellers - please visit www.real-estate-palmdale.com or call 1-877-SCONLEY for more information on buying or selling a home ANYWHERE in the Antelope Valley and surrounding areas!

Service areas: Acton - Agua Dulce - Ana Verde Hills - Antelope Acres - Antelope Valley - Canyon Country - Juniper Hills - Lake Elizabeth - Lake Hughes - Lake Los Angeles - Lancaster - Leona Valley - Littlerock - Llano - Palmdale - Pearblossom - Quartz Hill - Rancho Vista - Santa Clarita - Shadow Acres - White Fence Farms - Barrel Springs - Rosamond
www.real-estate-palmdale.com for more info

BACHELOR APARTMENT:
A small rental dwelling unit which combines living and bedroom spaces into one room (and, sometimes, kitchen space as well). Also known as "efficiency suite" or "studio apartment".

BACK END RATIO:
A comparison of a borrower's monthly expenses to her gross monthly income used to assess her ability to carry a mortgage or other loan.

BACK TITLE LETTER (OR CERTIFICATE):
Notice by a Title Insurance Company to a person searching and certifying title that a previous search has been completed, setting out the status of title of the property as at a given date such that the person searching need only up-date the search.

BACKUP CONTRACT:
An Agreement of Purchase and Sale for a particular property which is conditional (becomes binding) upon the failure of another Agreement for the same property.

BAILMENT:
The delivery of goods or money to another in trust.

BALANCE:
Often as in "balance due", the amount of principal on a loan remaining to be paid at any given time.

BALANCE SHEET:
Financial document used by a business showing the assets, liabilities and net worth at a specific time.

BALLOON (LOAN) MORTGAGE:
A mortgage where the final payment is considerably larger than the preceding payments. A loan which is repaid by a series of small, periodic payments until a given date, when either the balance comes due in a single, large payment or the amount of the payments rises significantly.

BALLOON PAYMENT:
Where the final installment payment on a note is greater than the preceding installment payments, and it pays the note in full, such final installment is termed a balloon payment.

BAND OF INVESTMENT:
A method of computing the capitalization rate by considering the return demanded by the holders of the various loans, and the owner.

BANKRUPT:
A noun or adjective. Noun - a person or business which has made an assignment in bankruptcy or has been petitioned into bankruptcy. Adjective - owing more money than you have assets or income to repay.

BANKRUPTCY:
The state of being unable to pay your debts such that you submit yourself to the protection of the state. A person or business may voluntarily assign himself into bankruptcy or may be petitioned into bankruptcy by his creditors. Once in bankruptcy, the person surrenders his assets to a trustee in bankruptcy who sells the assets for the benefit of the bankrupt's creditors, first secured creditors then unsecured creditors. Once a person is discharged from bankruptcy, none of his former creditors may pursue him for his former debts.

BASE AND MERIDIAN:
Imaginary lines used by surveyors to find and describe the location of private or public lands.

BASE RENT:
A set amount used as a minimum rent in a lease with provisions for increasing the rent over the term of the lease. The set rent payable by a tenant under a lease, to which is added Additional rents as required by the lease (for common area maintenance, for example, or for utilities).

BASE YEAR:
The year of a lease term which is used to compare subsequent years; usually when calculating operating expense pass throughs.

BEARER INSTRUMENT:
A valuable document (a bond or other security) which does not bear the name of its legal owner; may be redeemed by whoever is in possession of it.

BEARING WALL OR PARTITION:
A wall or partition supporting any vertical load in addition to its own weight.

BEDROOM COMMUNITY:
A neighborhood or area which offers little in the way of employment opportunities but plenty of housing, similar to a "suburb" or commuter town.

BEFORE-TAX CASH FLOW:
Gross amount of money available for the use of the owner before taking into consideration taxes.

BEFORE-TAX INCOME:
A person or corporation's gross earnings before taxes are deducted.

BELOW-MARKET INTEREST RATE (BMIR):
A subsidized interest rate on a mortgage or loan, often provided by a government to allow for acquisition of property or reduction in rents charged to tenants.

BENEFICIARY:
1. One entitled to the benefit of a trust.
2. One who receives profit from an estate, the title which is vested in a trustee.
3. The lender on the security of a note and deed of trust.

BETTERMENT:
An improvement upon property which increases the property value and is considered as a capital asset, as distinguished from repairs or replacements where the original character or cost is unchanged.

BILATERAL CONTRACT:
A contract in which both parties agree to perform certain acts.

BI-LEVEL:
A description of a house with two levels, where the main entrance to the house is between the two levels.

BILL OF SALE:
A written instrument given to pass title of personal property from vendor to vendee.

BINDER:
A notation of coverage on an insurance policy, issued by an agent, and given to the insured prior to issuing of the policy.

BIWEEKLY LOAN OR MORTGAGE:
A loan which features payments equalling one half of the usual monthly payment made every two weeks (to total 26 in a year), thus substantially reducing the life of the mortgage and the interest payable over the life of the mortgage.

BLANKET DEED OF TRUST:
A deed of trust secured by more than one lot or parcel of land.

BLANKET ENCUMBRANCE:
An encumbrance which covers more than one parcel of property.

BLANKET INSURANCE POLICY:
A single insurance policy that applies to more than one person or property.

BLANKET MORTGAGE:
A single mortgage which covers more than one piece of real estate.

BLENDED RATE:
Created when an old loan is refinanced and extended at an interest rate which is different from the original rate: the old debt is still payable at the old rate; the new debt is payable at the new rate; the total amount of the debt is payable at a rate of interest that is somewhere between the two rates.

BLIGHTED AREA:
A declining area in which real property values are seriously affected by destructive economic forces, such as encroaching inharmonious property usages, infiltration of lower social and economic classes of inhabitants, and/or rapidly depreciating buildings.

BLUEPRINT:
Construction plans, containing great detail about the particular building.

BOARD FOOT:
A unit of measurement of lumber;one foot wide, one foot long, one inch thick;144 cubic inches.

BOARD OF EQUALIZATION:
United States government body with a mandate to assure uniform property tax assessments.

BOILER PLATE:
A standard clause or provision in a contract which appears in all similar contracts.

BOMA:
Building Owners and Managers Association.

BOMA STANDARD:
A nationally published standard of measuring office space. Standards are published by other organizations and can affect how the size of space is calculated.

BOND:
1. A sum of money paid into court as an assurance of the performance of some requirement or as security for payment on a claim. May be used to allow for the removal of a claim for lien from a property while the court action over the lien continues.
2. An interest-bearing instrument.

BOOK DEPRECIATION:
The depreciation shown on the accounting books of the owner. Used for income tax.

BOOK VALUE:
Value of the property as shown on the accounting books of the owner.

BOOT:
Profit gained in exchange of properties on which income tax is not deferred. May be anything of value, including mortgage relief.

BORROWER (MORTGAGOR):
The person or company that receives money from a lender (often a bank, credit union or trust company) in exchange for a written promise to pay and a registered lien on property.

BOTTOMLAND:
Low lying land, near a water course or in a valley or similar geographic contour.

BOUNDARY:
Edge or limit of a property; property line.

BOUNDS:
Boundaries in a metes and bounds description.

BREACH:
The breaking of a law, or failure of duty, either by omission or commission.

BRIDGE FINANCING:
Also known as a swing loan, a loan used to fill a gap in financing, often between the purchase of a new home and the sale of the old one. If the purchase closes before the sale, the home owner needs to borrow enough money to pay for the new house for the period of time before the equity in his old house comes available as a result of the completion of the sale.

BRITISH THERMAL UNIT (B.T.U.):
A unit of heat or cooling. That required to change the temperature of a pound of water by one degree Fahrenheit.

BROKER:
A licensed person who does real estate acts for compensation or in expectation of compensation. He acts for himself and is paid directly by his client.

BROKERAGE:
For a commission or fee, bringing together parties interested in buying, selling, exchanging or leasing real property.

BROWNSTONE, BRICK ROW HOUSE, OR EASTERN TOWNHOUSE:
A nineteenth-century-style row house, with up to five storeys and a front stoop, verandah or porch leading up to the front door.

B.T.U.:
British Thermal Unit. The quantity of heat required to raise the temperature of one pound of water one degree Fahrenheit.

BUDGET MORTGAGE:
A mortgage in which the borrower is required to make periodic payments not only for interest and principal, but also for insurance premiums and realty tax installments.

BUFFER ZONE:
An area of land specifically designed to separate one zoning use from another, such as separating a residential neighborhood from an industrial area.

BUILD-OUT:
The space improvements put in place per the tenant's specifications.

BUILD TO SUIT:
An offer by a landowner to develop the land in a manner dictated by a potential tenant, in return for a long-term lease from the tenant for the developed land. An approach taken to lease space by a property owner where a new building is designed and constructed to the tenant's specifications.

BUILDER WARRANTY:
An enforceable guarantee of the quality of construction given by a builder or developer.

BUILDING CLASSIFICATIONS:
Building classifications in most markets refer to Class "A", "B", "C" and sometimes "D" properties. While the rating assigned to a particular building is very subjective, Class "A" properties are typically newer buildings with superior construction and finish in excellent locations with easy access, attractive credit to tenants and which offer multitude of amenities to tenants. The class of a building may vary depending on the location of the property. What is a class B in one market might be a class C in a different market. Also, as the class of the building decreases (moves from A to B etc) the rents tend to decrease.

BUILDING CODE:
Set of regulations established by a municipality to govern the standards of construction in that municipality.

BUILDING CORE:
The section of the building where the restrooms, ventilation shafts, electrical distribution, elevator shafts and stairwells are located.

BUILDING LINE OR SETBACK:
A line, set by law, a certain distance from a street line in front of which an owner cannot build on his lot (a setback line).

BUILDING PERMIT:
A document obtained from the local government, allowing for the construction of a structure in accordance with the terms of the permit.

BUILDING RESIDUAL:
A method of appraising. The value of the land is subtracted from the value of the property leaving the value of the building.

BUILDING RESTRICTIONS:
Limiting rules which may appear in building codes or in title documents which control the size, placement, materials, design or location of new construction.

BUILDING STANDARD:
The project specifications set out by the owner, usually in conjunction with the project architect. Details the type, quality and color selection available with respect to carpet, paint, light fixtures, wall coverings and other project finishes.

BUILT-INS:
Items which could be chattels but which are installed so as to form part of a building.

BULK SALE:
The sale of merchandise in bulk rather than in the ordinary course of business.

BUNDLE OF RIGHTS:
Beneficial interests or rights.

BUNGALOW:
A small, one-storey home built in a turn of the century style, often with a prominent front verandah.

BUSINESS DAY:
A day in which normal business is transacted. Generally, Monday to Friday but not weekends or holidays.

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY:
The sale or lease of a business. It includes personal property and it may include real property.

BUY-BACK AGREEMENT:
A contract between a purchaser and vendor in which the vendor agrees to repurchase the property from the purchaser if a certain event occurs within a specified period of time. The buy-back price is usually set out in the agreement.

BUY DOWN (ACCOUNT OR MORTGAGE):
The payment of extra money on a loan now so as to reduce the interest rate over a given period or over the life of the loan. This extra payment may be made by the borrower, by the lender (as an incentive to the borrower to borrow from the lender) or by the vendor/builder (as an incentive to the borrower to buy a certain property).

BUYER'S BROKER:
A licensee who has declared to represent only the buyer in a transaction, regardless of whether compensation is paid by the buyer or the listing broker through a commission split. A real estate broker who contracts to represent the interests of a person wishing to purchase a home.

BUYER'S MARKET:
A condition of the real estate market where there are more properties for sale than people interested in buying them. Buyer's have more choice and less competition for the available properties, resulting in lower prices.

BUY-SELL AGREEMENT:
A pact between partners in a business or shareholders in a company, obliging one to buy the other's interest (and obliging the other to sell) upon the occurrence of some event stated in the agreement.

BYLAWS:
The rules of an organization such as a corporation or partnership.

Serving Palmdale - Rancho Vista - Quartz Hill - East Lancaster - West Lancaster - Ana Verde - Rosamond - Acton - Leona Valley - Littlerock - Canyon Country - Aqua Dulce - Sand Canyon - Antelope Acres - Antelope Valley - Bouquet Canyon - Green Valley - Lake Elizabeth - Lake Hughes - Santa Clarita and the surrounding communities of AV & Los Angeles County.

This site is informational only. No representation is made or warranty given as to its content. Content deemed reliable but not guaranteed. User assumes all risk of use. Site owner and affiliates assume no responsibility or liability for any loss, delay or otherwise resulting from such use and are held harmless. Properties may become unavailable for ANY reason. This site page is a compilation of terms and opinions from different sources most commonly used and found in the real estate, mortgage and construction industries. This publication has been created to provide basic overview information with regard to these industries, and while generic, this information may not be applicable to all jurisdictions. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required or needed, the services of the appropriate professional should be sought and you should not rely on the information found herein. Please notify site owner of any copyright infringement that you believe has occured so that site owner may make full and remedial investigation. Please leave the site now if you do not agree to the conditions of use. Thank you.